Series D Funding
GroundWork Open Source Closes $5 Million in Series D Financing Led By Canaan Partners
SAN FRANCISCO, CA—October 13, 2009—GroundWork Open Source, Inc. (GWOS, www.gwos.com), the leader in commercial open source systems and network management software, today announced it has secured $5 million in its fourth round of venture capital financing. The series D financing, which was led by Canaan Partners, includes past investors Mayfield, JAFCO Ventures and SAP Ventures. The latest investment will be used to help further execute on GWOS’ vision of delivering a disruptive solution that eliminates IT administration isolation, providing a unified platform based on open source, open standards and a thriving community as viable resources.
“GWOS has matured greatly in the last five years, and has completed some substantial programs that are required to build an impressive business,” said Deepak Kamra, general partner of Canaan Partners. “We look forward to GWOS’ continued success and growth.”
Over the past year, GWOS has made huge strides as a market leader in the commercial open source IT monitoring arena. Just this past month GWOS reached two milestones that will change the face of the company -- the development and launch of www.MonitoringForge.org and a complete platform switch to JBoss in its flagship product, GroundWork Monitor 6.0. These major successes flank the seeding of new executive leadership, and participation in the Microsoft System Center Alliance program. GWOS was featured in this year’s Gartner Magic Quadrant for IT Event Correlation and Analysis and was recognized in Gartners’ Hype Cycle for IT Operations Management.
“We are pleased to provide our community with a powerful solution that matches their diverse data center management need,” said Peter Jackson, CEO of GWOS. “Our team is committed to delivering the best solution to our users by leveraging the center point of open source – the transparent and accessible knowledge. Look for more great things from GWOS that will change how IT monitoring will be done.”
About Canaan Partners Technology
Canaan Partners invests in visionary entrepreneurs and provides them the networks, insights and operational guidance required to build high-performance technology and healthcare companies. Founded in 1987, the firm has raised eight funds and completed more than 77 acquisitions and 52 IPOs. With $3 billion under management and a worldwide footprint, the firm’s technology team is committed to catalyzing the growth of innovative companies in the digital media, communications & mobility, enterprise and clean tech sectors. Among its successes are DoubleClick, the leading online advertising solution; Match.com, the most popular online dating site in the world; CommerceOne, the company that pioneered B2B ecommerce; SuccessFactors, the global leader in on-demand performance and talent management solutions; WebLoyalty, a leading provider of online marketing and rewards services; and VOIP equipment supplier Acme Packet, which was one of the top ten performing tech IPOs of 2006. Other Canaan technology investments include Active Networks, Associated Content, BharatMatrimony, Blurb, iYogi, Lending Club, N-trig, ON24, Prime Sense, Tremor Media and Zoosk. Canaan has offices in California, Connecticut, India and Israel. For more information visit www.canaan.com.
About Mayfield
Mayfield provides "Venture Capital with Impact" and shows leadership in early-stage venture investing by teaming with exceptional individuals to create industry-leading companies. With $2.2 billion in capital under management, Mayfield has deep domain expertise in Internet services, enterprise software, networking and communications technology. Since Mayfield's founding in 1969, the firm has invested in more than 400 companies, completed hundreds of mergers and acquisitions and taken 100 companies public. Mayfield's portfolio of companies includes those that represent the foundation of today's technology economy as well as companies striving to set the technology paradigms of the future. For more information: www.mayfield.com.
About JAFCO Ventures
Based in Palo Alto, California, JAFCO Ventures is an independent venture capital partnership focused on companies that are emerging leaders in the software, semiconductor and communications industries. JAFCO Ventures was formed in 2003 and currently manages $200 million in capital. The fund's charter is to invest in venture opportunities with true "breakout" potential where JAFCO Ventures can meaningfully add value with capital, the experience of seasoned venture capital investors, and the deployment of our Asia business development (ABD) team. The role of the ABD team is to help JAFCO's portfolio companies generate revenue from customers in Japan and other parts of Asia. For more information, visit www.jafco.com.
About SAP Ventures
Established in 1996, SAP Ventures is the corporate venture investing arm of SAP AG. The fund focuses on information technology investing, with an emphasis on enterprise technologies and services. The team has amassed an enviable track record of generating outstanding financial returns while providing a window on innovation to the SAP Ecosystem. SAP Ventures evaluates opportunities globally, looking for innovative companies with outstanding management. The fund works closely with their portfolio companies, providing advice and guidance and helping them connect with SAP and SAP's partners. CommerceOne, MySQL, RedHat, WebEx, and Virsa (SAP) are just a few of the companies in which SAP Ventures has invested. For more information please visit http://www.sap.com/company/sapventures/index.epx.
About GroundWork Open Source (GWOS)
San Francisco-based GWOS (http://www.gwos.com) is the market leader in commercial open source network and systems management software, delivering enterprise-class network, system and application management solutions at a fraction of the cost of proprietary solutions.
GWOS's best of breed approach gives customers the flexibility to use diverse open source and proprietary technologies together under a unified interface, allowing users to leverage the advantages of open source while simultaneously preserving existing investments in legacy management tools. GWOS’s solutions are in use at organizations like Crocs, National Australia Bank, Siemens, Travel Click and World Bank.
